PROPHETS
The prophets Amos, Jonah, and Joel all prophesied in the time of Jeroboam II and Uzziah, near or perhaps slightly earlier than the time of Hosea and Isaiah.
Micah and Nahum wrote towards the end of this same period. Habakkuk and Zephaniah came a little later. Even later, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel were all prophets of the last days of the first temple in Jerusalem. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Haggai, Obadiah, Zechariah and Malachi were all prophets of the early second temple period or of the period between the temples.
The order goes:
Amos, Jonah, Joel – Time of Jeroboam II and Uzziah
Hosea, Isaiah
Micah, Nahum – Time of Hezekiah
Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel – last days of first Temple in Jerusalem
After destruction of Jerusalem
Haggai, Obadiah, Zechariah, Malachi – Early second Temple period
The prophets can be assigned to three different periods.
Pre-exilic
The period before the end of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah and the onset of the invasions and captivities and exile of Yahweh's people.
Yahweh was being cheated on by His wife (the children of Israel). She had been worshiping other gods and race mixing. Yahweh sent prophets to warn Israel to return to Him.
Exilic
The divorce. The Israelites did not return to Him and continued their race mixing and idolatry.
Yahweh sent the Assyrians to punish them and take them away.
First, the 10-tribe northern Kingdom of Israel in 745 BC, followed by the greater part of Judah, the southern kingdom, were invaded, conquered, and taken away to Assyria. Only Jerusalem was not taken, because they humbled themselves and prayed. But...because Jerusalem could not stay straight...the balance of the 2-tribe southern Kingdom of Judah in Jerusalem were taken to Babylonia when Nebuchadnezzar came to complete the divorce.
Post-exilic
The test of genuineness of a prophet is given by Ezekiel, 'When this cometh to pass...then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.' –meaning, of course, that a prophet's inspiration was proved when that which he had foretold really happened.
After the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities, a remnant of the southern tribes of Judah returned with Ezra, Nehemiah and Zerubbabel to rebuild the walls, city and temple.
In the time of the governorship of Nehemiah (502-490 B.C.), after the return of the 42,000 or so Judahites to Jerusalem, we see again that the law was read before all of the people, who must not have been accustomed to hearing it, since at Nehemiah 8:9 it says “For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.” The end of Nehemiah chapter 8 describes the reading of the law at the Feast of Tabernacles, as had been commanded in Deuteronomy nearly a thousand years beforetime. In Nehemiah 9:3 we see that the reading from the law lasted for a quarter part of the day, or at least three hours as the day was reckoned at that time.
The great themes of the prophets are three-fold:
Prophecies to their own times, including warnings of coming judgments.
Prophecies to the first advent of Christ.
Prophecies to the second advent of Christ.
The prophets were not all priests.
Priests- Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, Habbakuk, Zechariah, Malachi
Countrymen- Hosea, Joel, Amos, Micah, Nahum
Princes- Daniel, Zephaniah
Obscure- Isaiah, Obadiah, Haggai
THE MAJOR PROPHETS
ISAIAH Yesha'yahu
Meaning, 'Yah is salvation', or 'Yahweh has saved'.
One of Yahshua's favorite readings in the Temple.
Told of the Messiah’s coming suffering (ch53) and is very much a book about Yahshua.
Isaiah wrote over a period of 24 years.
One of 1st writing prophets.
The overall theme of Isaiah is the divorce of Israel and their regathering.
The message to Israel encompasses the Israelites being deported, to the Israelites of the deportation.
Isaiah is one of the earliest prophets, Amos was earlier and Hosea was a contemporary.
Isaiah's prophesies covered the entire time of Israel's deportation.
He prophesied during the end of the reign of king Uzziah (791-740 BC) and through to the reign of Hezekiah.
Isaiah 1:1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
This spanned from about 791-684 BC.
Many of Isaiah's prophecies are against the surrounding nations as well.
Isaiah is the beginning of the prophetical books, which constitute about one-third of the Bible. There are 16 of them. Four 'major' and twelve 'minor'.
Just as it was the function of the priests to represent the people to Yahweh, so it was the function of the prophets to represent Yahweh to the people.
Isaiah's messages chiefly concerned Judah and Jerusalem. Then thy narrowed down to the royal house of David, within the tribe of Judah.
Isaiah's messages were also with contemporary nations, such a Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia and Tyre, inasmuch as they impinged upon Yahweh's people.
Isaiah's message was also with Israel in the 'isles' and 'in the ends of the earth' and 'ye that are far off.'
The 'isles' are referring to Britain. Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Joshua show how Yahweh revealed to Jacob that his descendants would spread throughout the world. The Jews are NOT descendants of Jacob/Israel, the Jews are descendants of Cain and of Esau.
Isaiah prophesied the captivity of the 10-tribe northern kingdom of Israel 65 years before the campaign of the Assyrians.
The Assyrian invasion and deportation of Israel started in 745 BC.
Isaiah prophesied the captivity of the 2-tribe southern kingdom of Judah at the time when Assyria, and not Babylon, was the foe which threatened Judah.
The Babylonian invasion and deportation of Judah started later around 600 BC. (604-586 BC)
Isaiah prophesied of the First Advent of Christ.
A. His birth.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore Yahweh Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel.
This was a prophecy specifically addressed -'Hear ye now, O house of David.' Both Joseph and Mary were of Davidic descent, and the announcement to each of them, by an angelic messenger.
B. The messenger before Him.
Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Prince, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Of course this is of John the Baptist.
C. His sufferings.
Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth.
Matthew 26:62 And the high priest arose, and said unto Him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
26:62 But Jesus held His peace. And the high priest answered and said unto Him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
D. His death and burial.
Isaiah 53:9 And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth.
Matthew 27:58 He (Joseph of Arimathaea) went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered.
27:59 And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,
27:60 And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out
Isaiah prophesied the Second Advent of Yahshua Christ, and the end of the present age.
In Luke, when Yahshua went into the synagogue at Nazareth, He read from the book of Isaiah (Luke 4:17-20). He stopped after reading the words ' the acceptable year of the Prince.'
'The day of vengeance' belongs to the Second Advent, and related to much that Isaiah prophesied of that far distant future.
Nuclear warfare, disturbances in nature. (Isa 9:5)
'The day of the Prince cometh...' (Isa 13:9-11)
Peace measures fail. (Isa 33:7)
Yahweh's kingdom set up. True Israel (the white nations of the world) gathered together. (Isa 11:12, 27:6, 60:3, 45:17)
The quality of His Kingdom. Righteousness. (Isa 11:5, 32:17, 2:4)
The rulership of Divinity. (Isa 9:6-7, 2:1-4, 25:8)
The fate of the rebellious. (Isa 60:12)
None of the above took place at the First Advent of our Prince.
Consider- Isaiah saw the people of his time, first Israel, then Judah, driven from the Promised Land into captivity. He knew the conditional covenants, and the sin had to be punished. He also knew the covenants of the everlasting 'seed' and the 'throne'. He knew therefore, that Yahweh would preserve His chosen race.
Here is a brief description of each chapter's theme:
Ch 1-3 USA, Judeo's pride, materialism, women in high places, corruption, STD'S.
Ch 4-5 Assyrian Captivity 741-676 BC (65 yr prophecy) Ephraim ceases to be a nation.
Ch 7 Deportation
Ch 11 Israel will be scattered among the wolf, leopard, etc
Ch 17 People of Damascus have forgotten YHWH.
Ch 19 Doom of white Egypt
Ch 21 Defeat of Babylon
Ch 22 Oracle of people of Jerusalem
Ch 23-25 Tyre- NY of ancient world.
Ch 26-27 Oracle against Judah
Isaiah may have wrote Chronicles and Kings
2Chronicles 26:22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write.
Ch 28 Ephraim(Britain) Woe to you unteachable children that fall away.
Ch 29 Oracle against Jerusalem
Ch 30-31 Warning to Israel not to seek help from Egypt..
Ch 32 Outlook focus on future. V13 Immigrants, V9 women's suffrage, feeds liberalism.
Ch 33 Oracle against spoiler
Ch 42 Isaigh called to be a light for Israel to open their eyes.
Ch 43 Israel was shown, but still don't call upon YHWH.
Ch 44 Fall away and make graven images.
Ch 47 Babylon became a tyrannical empire.
Ch 49 Jacob speaking, V6 a ? and Yahweh's answer. Restoration of Israel
Ch 53 Prophecy of Yahshua, no one recognized Him as the Messiah
Ch 54 V4 When Yahshua died, we became widows. V10 No one changes the covenants
Ch 56 Yahweh knew the watchmen would promote universalism.
V 1-8 about the regathering, V9 all the fault of the watchmen, V11 false prophets
Ch 57 V5 Hebrew: idols not there. V 8 This is all about race mixing
Ch 58 Fasting, sincerely and not
Ch 63 Vengeance against Edom
Tradition has it that Isaiah was sawn asunder in the trunk of a carob tree by king Manasseh and that this is the incident referred to in...
Hebrews 11:37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
JEREMIAH Yirmeyahu
Meaning, 'whom Yahweh has appointed'. And 'Yah will rise'.
Son of Hilkiah of the priestly family in Anathoth.
Yahweh's spokesman during decline/fall of southern kingdom of Judah.
Jeremiah started his ministry at a young age in 627 BC
Jeremiah is addressing the Israelites of Judah which the Assyrians failed to conquer. The Assyrians took away all of the northern kingdom of Israel and most of the southern kingdom of Judah.
The books of the Chronicles, towards the end, give the history of the two-tribe Kingdom of Judah, and it's decline into idolatry, moral degradation and political weakness.
The messengers of Yahweh were mocked and the people 'despised His words until the wrath of Yahweh rose against His people, and there was not remedy.' (2Chr 36:11-16)
This was during the time of Zedekiah, the last King of Judah, who was ultimately taken captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, and the first part of the book of Jeremiah contains, predominantly, the prophet's messages and warnings to his own times, and to a period extant 70 years after the captivity. The second part of the book, from chapter 30 forward, is mainly concerned with the 'latter days', that is, the end of the present age in which we live, and foretells the events connected with the Second Advent of Yahshua Christ.
Jeremiah as one of three (John the baptist and Christ), who, the Bible says, were selected for special work before they were born into this world. (Jer 1:5)
Jeremiah would have dual roles.
Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day (1) set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, (2) to build, and to plant.
First, Jeremiah's message to his own times.
We must remember that the neighboring ten-tribe Kingdom of Israel was already in captivity and that Jeremiah had been instructed by Yahweh to warn the two-tribe Kingdom of Judah that, if they ignored Him and His laws for their spiritual and national well being, the same fate would befall them.
Jeremiah was not popular. He was persecuted, put in stocks, cast into a dungeon, and was in danger of his life. But he was preserved by Yahweh in his imprisonment and was safe there, 'in the court of the prison', the day that Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldean armies.
Jeremiah foretold that, after 70 years, a remnant of Judah would be allowed to return to Jerusalem and restore temple worship. The book of Ezra is the proof and fulfillment of this prophecy.
Jeremiah was one of a very small remnant left in Jerusalem, while the main body of the Kingdom of Judah was in captivity in Babylon.
With Jeremiah were also Baruch and the daughter's of Zedekiah, they were taken to Egypt against the divinely inspired council of Yahweh. But this was all in the plan of Yahweh, as the king's daughters were now the sole remaining representatives of the royal line of David. From Egypt they went on to Scotland, Ireland and ultimately Britain. Queen Elizabeth II is the reigning descendant of David. She is NOT a Jew. The Jews are descendants of Cain and of Esau. The white nations of the world are the descendants of Jacob/Israel.
The king's daughters were the 'tender twigs which Yahweh said He would plant. (Ez 17:22-23)
Many “churches” teach that Jeremiah died in Egypt. More lies from the pulpit.
Where could Jeremiah have taken the king's daughters? He did not take them to Babylon, where the people of Judah were captives, nor would he have been allowed to take them through the Babylonian Empire to where the ten northern tribes of Israel were by this time known as the 'Scythians'.
Where else were there Israelite kingdoms? In Greece, in Spain, and in Ireland.
Before, during and after the Exodus, many tribes of Israel, such as those of Dan and Judah settled into the west and north and up to the 'isles' (Britain).
The royal tribe of Judah consisted of two branches, respectively the descendants of Pharez and of Zarah. The Zarahites left before the Exodus and settled in Crete, also founded the cities of Troy and Miletus. After the fall of Troy, near 1100 BC, Brutus the Trojan and his followers went to England, founding what became the City of London. The Miletus became a great power: Milesian coins bore the lion of Judah, the Milesians of Spain conquered the Tuatha De Danaan and settled in Ireland. Their language was 'Phoenician' -which is a Semitic dialect akin to Hebrew- and became the Gaelic language of ancient Ireland and Scotland.
Ancient Irish history records that, about 583 BC, there came to Ireland from Egypt 'Ollam Fodhla' (which means 'The Great Prophet'), with 'Brugh' his scribe, and Tamar Teah Tephi, the daughter of a king (Zedekiah). Irish tradition has always identified Ollam Fodhla as Jeremiah and Baruch as his scribe.
Jeremiah's tomb is in Ireland.
In taking the king's daughters on his divinely commanded mission 'to build and to plant', Jeremiah would naturally try to take along the remaining sacred objects. The Irish Chronicles record his bringing the Stone of Destiny, Jacob's Pillow; and from Ireland, it is historically traced through Scotland to England where it is now in the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey.
The princess Tamar Teah Tephi, brought to Ireland by Jeremiah was married to Eochaid, the Heremon (or Chief King) of Ireland, who was of the Milesian dynasty, and therefore of the Zarah branch of Judah.
This is just a small sample of Anglo-Saxon Israel’s forgotten heritage.
Article: Royal Sceptre- Tearing down, building up
From Jerusalem-Egypt-Spain (Scota remained with her husband, Niul, and 3 sons)
Tea Tephi, Baruch, Jeremiah, and the Stone of Destiny went on to Ireland (583BC)
Ezekiel 21:26 Thus saith Yahweh GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.
21:27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
Then the stone went to Scotland (350BC) then England (1297AD). Hence 3 overturns.
Tea Tephi (Pharez) married Yokai? (Zarah), uniting the houses of Pharez/Zarah Judah.
Zarah Judah settled in Ireland earlier, around the Exodus.
Jer 43:4-7 taken against will to Egypt
Jer 44:11-14 Yahweh warned about going to Egypt. Only Jeremiah, Baruch and Zedekiah's daughters escape.
Jeremiah's message for the far distant future.
From the 30th chapter foward Jeremiah gives details of the future.
Jacob's trouble. (Jer 30:7)
Jeremiah says that this time is like the time of travail and birth-pangs preceding a new life.
The promise of restoration. (Jer 30:24, 31:10)
The last chapters of Jeremiah contain prophecies concerning the ancient powers whose destinies were bound up with those of Israel down the corridors of time, from the former days to our own modern age. The final doom of the anti-God agents in the present century are foretold.
EZEKIEL Yechezqe'l
Means 'May God strengthen him', or God will strengthen'
Ezekiel was a Levite, a priest.
Son of Buzi and a priest and prophet; author of the book by his name; taken captive with Jehoiachin, 11 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, and exiled in Babylon where he prophesied for the next 22 years.
Ezekiel prophesied that temple would be restored and the people would return to the land.
While Jeremiah was the voice of Yahweh to Jerusalem (the house of Judah) in the last days of the Kings, Ezekiel was the voice of Yahweh in Babylon, where he was with the captive Israelites who had been transported from the Holy Land as a result of the first waves of foreign invasion. His message was to the 'whole House of Israel'.
In the book of the Kings, we saw the division of the chosen people into two kingdoms, which became known a Judah and Israel. Ezekiel prophesies their reunion, under the sign of two sticks.
Ezekiel is writing in the fifth year of captivity while among the captives by the river Chebar.
Chebar was a great canal near the ancient city of Nippur in south Babylonia.
We learn from an incidental allusion, that he was married, and had a house (8:1), in his place of exile, and lost his wife by a sudden and unforeseen stroke.
Ezekiel 24:16 Son of man, behold, I take away from you the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
24:17 Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon you, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
Jeremiah 16:5 For thus saith Yahweh enter not into the house of mourning, neither go to lament nor bemoan them: for I have taken away My peace from this people, saith Yahweh, even lovingkindness and mercies.
Leviticus 10:6 And Moses said unto Aaron, and unto Eleazar and unto Ithamar, his sons, Uncover not your heads, neither rend your clothes; lest ye die, and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which Yahweh hath kindled.
Leviticus 21:10 And he that is the high priest among his brethren, upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, and that is consecrated to put on the garments, shall not uncover his head, nor rend his clothes;
24:18 So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
Ezekiel's own wife was used as an example of the judgment that will have come upon all Jerusalem. Ezekiel was also an example, he lost his wife but obeyed Yahweh's command.
He lived in the highest consideration among his companions in exile, and their elders consulted him on all occasions. He is said to have been buried on the banks of the Euphrates. The tomb, said to have been built by Jehoiachin, is shown, a few days journey from Baghdad.
DANIEL Daniyel
'God is my judge', or 'God is judge'.
Written about 597-548 BC
Daniel did not make it back to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity (too old).
Daniel was a contemporary of Ezekiel.
Daniel was a young prince of the royal line of Judah, who had been taken captive to Babylon.
The book itself is written partly in the Hebrew language and partly in a peculiar Aramaic dialect, often miscalled 'Chaldee'.
The parts of Daniel which were written in Aramaic are 2:4 to 7:28. Aramaic is the language of the people of Aram, son of Shem. It became the commercial language of Babylon, replacing the old Assyrian.
The book of Daniel may be divided into two parts.
General Prophecies comprising chapters 2-6 relating to the time of the nations.
Symbolic prophecies in chapter 2. Allegorical prophecies in chapters 3-6.
Particular Prophecies of certain nation powers in chapters 7-12.
Symbolic prophecies in chapters 7-8. Daniel's 70 weeks prophecy in chapter 9.
Daniel prophesied about what was going to happen throughout history, including what would happen to Daniel's people in the 'latter days' and to the whole world.
MINOR PROPHETS
AMOS
Means 'burden'.
A shepherd.
Called to prophesy to northern kingdom of Israel during reign of Jeroboam II (786-746 BC).
Amos, like Hosea, was a countryman. He described himself as 'no prophet, neither a prophet's son,' (that is, not trained in the regular prophetic schools, like Elijah and Elisha), but 'an herdsman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit'. He was a native of Tekoa, a few miles south of Jerusalem, and therefore belonged to the southern Kingdom of Judah. His writings contain many allusions to natural objects and agricultural occupations. His style is direct, logical and artistic, and his character appears to have been of that independence and fearlessness which often is typical of the true countrymen who has a living faith (allegiance) in Yahweh.
He lived when Uzziah was king in Judah, and Jeroboam II was king in Israel.
Amos turned from an agriculturalist into a preacher because of his knowledge of the prevailing evil conditions in the neighboring northern Kingdom of Israel, and his personal conviction of what was right and his confidence of Divine counsel.
The message of Amos to his own time.
It was to Bethel, the very stronghold of idolatry, that he came and proclaimed that if Israel persisted in apostasy: Jeroboam II would die by the sword, and his people would be carried away as captives out of their own land.
The message of Amos to Israel down the corridors of time.
Amos then proceeded to foretell two things which seemed self-contradictory: The thorough dispersal of the people of this northern Kingdom of Israel among other nations, 'I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve' and the amazing contrast – their retention of individual entity – 'yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.'
Prince Yahshua said the Kingdom of heaven was like a 'grain of seed.' Yahweh's principle of selectivity and Yahweh's Kingdom (grain of seed) though hidden for a time, would persist and live, and that far ahead in time, Yahweh's people Israel would finally emerge, to be seen and recognized.
The message of Amos for the time of the end of this age.
Amos, like Joel, spoke of the far distant future which he called 'the day of the Prince.' 'It is darkness and not light, even very dark and no brightness in it,' but after it's troubles, there will be a re-establishment of the people of Yahweh (the Kingdom) under a monarch of the royal Davidic line.
JONAH Yonah
Means 'dove'.
Son of Amittai
One of earliest of all prophets. Prophesied before 753 BC
Refused Yahweh’s call to preach to people of Nineveh.
Jonah's home town was Gathhepher, and although it is poorly spelled in the King James Version, from Joshua 19:13 we see that the town was in the land of Zebulun. Therefore it appears that the Jew Pharisees of the time of Christ were wrong once again, where at John 7:52 they had asserted that “out of Galilee ariseth no prophet”.
Some of the great nations of history settled in lands adjacent to the Holy Land. One of them was Assyria, the capital city of which was Nineveh on the River Tigris. It was this nation which invaded and conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel, starting in 745 BC. It was a heathen nation, the chief object of worship being the idol 'Assor', a fish-god, patron of the city of Nineveh.
About a 150 years before this successful conquest, while there were still kings in northern Israel, there was a man living there named Jonah. He was commissioned by Yahweh to go to Nineveh and proclaim the living God, and denounce the wickedness of it's inhabitants. Such a commission was distasteful to Jonah. He tried to run, but was cast into the sea, swallowed by a whale spewed out.
Jonah was then commissioned a second time. He did as Yahweh bade him.
The Ninevites, led by their King, repented of their evil and were spared from punishment.
When Jonah reproached Yahweh for sparing the people of Nineveh, he had to be taught a lesson in mercy and forgiveness.
The Bible makes it plain that Yahweh works with selected tools in His plan for the salvation of the Adamic society, to bring it back to Himself. He therefore committed the revelation of Himself to one nation whose purpose was to maintain in the world the witness to the living God immanent in the affairs of men. Here, in miniature, in the story of Jonah, is that plan in operation – one Israelite sent to make that witness to a neighboring immoral and idol worshiping Adamic nation. In this incident, Yahweh Himself shows that there is capacity in the Adamic Genesis 10 nations for salvation.
JOEL Ya'el
Means, 'Yahweh is God'
Son of Pethuel (Bathuel) Acts 2, only other mention of Joel
Prophesied between 676-605 BC
Dual prophesies-written about his time and future
Prophesied about the day when God would pour out His Spirit upon all flesh and that they would speak prophecies and have visions and dreams (Joel 2:28-29).
Joel describes the locust plague and then goes on to lament an invasion by a nation into the land, where it can clearly be seen that the locust plague is an allegory for invading people, and has little to do with actual insects.
The latest example of this invasion is happening to America and the other white Adamic nations today.
Joel was one of the earliest writing prophets. He lived more than a century after the division of the Kingdom of Israel and a century before the first exile.
It is thought he was a resident in Jerusalem, for he refers with apparently intimate knowledge to the Temple and it's services.
HOSEA Hoshea
Son of Beeri
Hosea's name means 'salvation'.
Prophet during Assyrian captivity.
Hosea began his prophesying, according to his own introduction, at the time when Uzziah (who is also sometimes confusingly called Azariah in the KJV) ruled over Judah and Jeroboam II ruled over Israel. Both of these men reigned for a long time: Uzziah, who was stricken with leprosy while he ruled, from about 791-739 BC and Jeroboam II from 793-753 BC. Therefore Hosea began to prophecy before 753 BC. He wrote until the days of Hezekiah.
Hosea wrote from no later than 753 BC unto at least 722 BC, a period of at least 32 years during the time described in the Bible from II Kings chapters 14 to 20, and from II Chronicles chapters 26 to 32.
Although the general message of all the prophets was inevitably warning, remonstrance, and plain speaking as to the result of persistent wrong-doing and idolatry, each prophet was given, by Yahweh, an individual message, not only for his own times, but also for future ages, called 'the latter days', which refer to the second coming of Yahshua Messiah to this earth to rule.
Hosea was a countryman, and illustrations from rural life appear naturally in his book. Hosea was a tender-hearted man, as so often the true countryman is. He was a man of the northern Kingdom of Israel, and his ministry, which lasted for about 60 years, was mainly to that northern Kingdom, during the reign of it's last seven kings.
Hosea's style is terse and rapid. His writings were known to our Prince Yahshua and to Paul, both of whom quoted from them.
This book has a unique quality in that we are given an insight into Hosea' private life. Hosea symbolized that which was being enacted on a national scale in the life of his countrymen in the Kingdom of Israel.
In the Song of Solomon, the people of Israel stood in the relationship of wife to Yahweh; betrothed, married, faithless, and divorced as a result of that faithlessness, also, that the prophetical books take up the story and foretell her re-betrothal.
Here, in the life of Hosea, we have a complete symbolism of that picture.
His wife was faithless and adulterous, and in Hosea's constancy, tenderness and desire for her return, is a parallel, easily understood by human minds, of Yahweh's mercy and oft-proclaimed call, through the prophets, to His 'bride' Israel, to return to Him in repentance and restoration.
Hosea had three children, who stood for 'signs'.
Hosea covers the time of II Kings 14-20 and II Chron 26-32.
MICAH Miychah
Means, 'who is like Yahweh'
Younger contemporary of Isaiah. Spoke of deliverance to come through the Messiah whose place of birth he predicts.
A native of Moresheth, he prophesied during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and was contemporary with the prophets Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah.
The prophecy of Micah parallels those of Isaiah, Hosea, and Amos, who were all prophets of the 8th century BC. The ministries of all four of these prophets were focused on forecasting God's impending judgment of the ancient northern Kingdom of Israel, although they all also prophesied of other things, such as the sin and impending judgment of Judah and Jerusalem, of Christ, and of Israel's eventual restoration.
The prophecy of Micah has three basic messages: the sin, punishment, and restoration of Israel
Micah, like Hosea and Amos, was a countryman. His home was at Moresheth, a village to the south of Jerusalem and to the east of Gath, so he was of the Kingdom of Judah.
He was a contemporary with kings Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah of Judah and with the last kings of the northern Kingdom of Israel.
Micah's prophecies are of 'the near and the far.'
His own time he said of Samaria, the capital of Israel, that it would become 'as an heap of the field' and that it's stones would tumble into the valley. Samaria was on a hill. This prophecy was literally fulfilled in less than 50 years.
The 'far' prophecies included the First Advent of Yahshua Christ, and the Last Days.
Micah pin-pointed Bethlehem as the precise place where Christ would be born.
Micah also sees beyond the 'Day of the Prince' to the time which follows, that time which marks the Kingdom of Yahweh.
MICAIAH
Son of Imlah and a prophet of Samaria who predicted the defeat and death of king Ahab of Israel.
1Kings 22:7 And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of Yahweh besides, that we might enquire of him?
22:8 And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of Yahweh: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
22:9 Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah.
See also verses 10-36+ and 2 Chronicles 18:7-27
NAHUM Nachum
Name means “consolation, comfort”.
Prophesied approximately 663-612 BC
Prophesied about the coming end of the Assyrian Empire and the fall of their chief city, Nineveh.
Nahum 1:1 The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite.
Elkoshite = 'God the ensnarer'.
Not much is known of Nahum himself. The prophet does not date himself except by the conditions expressed in his writing, and only calls himself Nahum the Elkoshite, most likely meaning that he came from a place named Elkosh.
There is conjecture that Capernaum was named for the prophet.
The Hebrew word which gives us the name Nahum means comfort, and it is fitting for his message since the destruction of Assyria would be a comfort to Israel. The phrase from which the name Capernaum is derived means village of comfort.
There is also a place called Alqosh in what is now northern Iraq which allegedly dates to Assyrian times, which is plausible, and for which there has been claimed a connection to the prophet for many centuries.
The context of the prophecy, especially in the first chapter, places the prophet in Jerusalem.
Nahum is the sequel to the book of Jonah. It's theme is 'the burden of Nineveh'.
Nineveh is first mentioned in the book of Genesis as being founded by Asshur, a descendant of Shem.
In the book of Jonah we learn of it's wickedness, and reformation, as a result of the preaching of Jonah.
We now see that Nineveh's reformation was not maintained, and in the time of Nahum (some 50 years later) it's evil brought misery to the ancient world.
The Medes and the Neo-Babylonians invaded Assyria and reduced Nineveh to ashes.
So complete and utter was the ultimate destruction of Nineveh that the armies of Alexander the Great marched over the plains where it had once stood, unaware that it had ever been there.
Nahum's message was uttered when the Assyrian Empire, with it's chief city Nineveh, was at the height of it's prosperity and master of the ancient world.
The significance of this book is in it's two-fold message:
Apostasy is followed by certain judgment.
Prophecy is followed by certain fulfillment.
HABAKKUK Chabaqquq
Meaning 'embrace'.
Ministering a few years before fall of Jerusalem (600ish BC +/-).
Book in the form of dialogue, the prophets complaints (in form of ?’s) and Yahweh’s reply to them, leading from ?’s to affirmation.
In his own times, Habakkuk saw the wickedness of his compatriots of the Kingdom of Judah, the crime, the injustice, and the evil prevalent.
He saw, too, that the instrument of punishment would be the Chaldean invasion which took place less than 30 years after his prophecy.
Beyond his own times his message has three aspects:
The characteristics of shown by the enemy of Yahweh's people. (Hab 2:5)
The great contribution of archaeology to the truth of the Bible. (Hab 2:11)
The ultimate world-wide dominion of Yahweh. (Hab 2:14, Isa 11:9, Matt 25:31)
The fall of Nineveh to the Scythians, Medes and Persians occurred right around 612 BC, and Nebuchadnezzar II ascended to the throne of Babylon in 605 BC, from which time Babylon would acquire hegemony over the remaining portions of the old Assyrian empire. This time, from 612 BC to 605 BC, seems to be the most appropriate for the proclamation that Yahweh would “raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation” here in verse 6 of the opening chapter.
It is much more likely that Habakkuk prophesied these things during the reigns of the three wicked kings which followed Josiah, which were Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah. With these and other circumstances both Biblical and historical, the early portion of the rule of Jehoiakim is the most likely candidate for the time of this prophecy, between 608 and 601 BC.
BDB Definition for Habakkuk means 'embrace', clasp.
According to Strong's Concordance, the name Habakkuk is a reduplicated form of a word, Habak, meaning to clasp (see Strong's #'s 2263 and 2265). This is appropriate, because the prophet presents two things which must be grasped, the first being a prophesy of the destruction of Jerusalem and the second a prophecy of the destruction of Babylon.
The prophet says nothing about himself, but he seems to have been a Levite connected to the service of music in the temple, since the third chapter of this prophecy is a song written after the manner of Psalm 7 and instructions are given for its performance.
Before the song in chapter 3 of the prophecy, the reader is presented with a dialogue between the prophet and Yahweh Himself, the God of Israel, where the prophet begins by crying out for justice and judgment against the sins of the people. The prophet is portrayed as being the first to speak.
ZEPHANIAH Tsephanyah
Means 'Yahweh has treasured', 'concealed of God', or 'who Yahweh has hidden'.
Contemporary of Jeremiah.
Prophesied to the nation of Judah during the reign of Josiah (640-609BC).
Teaches judgment and salvation.
Scythian invasion (626 BC)?
The prophet Zephaniah was a great grandson of Hezekiah, a godly king of Judah.
He lived during the reign of Josiah, another godly king, also of Judah.
Zephaniah would have been aware of the over-throw and captivity of the northern Kingdom of Israel (which had taken place 100 years before) as a result of religious and political degradation. It might be thought that he could have felt complacent about the state of his own Kingdom of Judah, for, under the rulership of Josiah, idol worship had been banned, altars erected to heathen gods had been destroyed, the Temple at Jerusalem repaired, and it's services reinstated. Moreover, the law as given to Moses had been discovered and re-proclaimed, and the feast of the passover and unleavened bread restored.
This revival however proved to be the last – the evil seed of the long reign of the godless Manasseh, for over 50 years previously, had not been rooted out but apparently only driven underground. To Zephaniah's view there seemed to be two elements in the nation:
The religious faction – a faithful remnant.
The business faction. This faction mocked Yahweh as impotent.
Zephaniah had a message for both elements.
To the business faction:
Judgment under the phrase 'the day of the Prince'. Mentioned 13 times in the first chapter.
It was to be a day of wrath, trouble, distress, waste and desolation, darkness and gloominess, clouds and thick darkness, the sounding of the trumpet which meant 'alarm'.
'The day of the Prince' to Zephaniah, as to other prophets, was synonymous with judgment against apostasy and evil and he regarded the imminent invasion of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar as such a judgment and, at the same time as foreshadowing the judgment of all nations on the earth at the end of the present age.
Zephaniah's message to the religious faction was strikingly different. Them he addressed as 'ye meek, (which) have wrought His judgment' – 'the remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies.' 'It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Prince's anger.
We must remember that Zephaniah was primarily thinking of Israel as a nation, and Yahshua as their King, and he foretold the setting up of that Kingdom on earth when the faithful in Israel form the nucleus of that Kingdom and receive His protection ('are hid') - while the judgments of the end time are in the world- to be followed by rejoicing.
HAGGAI Chaggay
Haggai means 'festive'
Prophet of Judah, approximately 520 BC
The first prophet to prophecy after the Babylonian captivity.
Second Temple Period, the return of exiles. Rebuilding House of God in Jerusalem.
When we read the books of Ezra and Nehemiah there were two major undertakings by the leaders of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, who returned to the Promised Land by permission of the Persian Emperor. They were:
The rebuilding of the Temple at Jerusalem and the restoration of it's services.
The rebuilding of the city walls.
The prophet Haggai was one who encouraged the people to resume the Temple building when it had been suspended owing to the machinations of adversaries.
The people who returned were to make up the Seventy Week Nation (490 years) spoken of in Daniel. The anointing of Christ was to signal the beginning of the end for that Nation. Though most of the common people accepted and followed Christ, the Idumean (Edomite Jews) and mongrelized priesthood (Sadducees and Pharisees, also Jews) did not. They crucified Him.
There have been three Temples built in Jerusalem:
The magnificent building erected by Solomon. This Temple superseded 'the tabernacle' (or Tent of Meeting) which had been carried in the midst of the tribes before their consolidation into a national entity in the Promised Land. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.
The Temple was rebuilt under the leadership of Ezra and Zerubbabel. This suffered vicissitudes in the wars that rent Palestine in subsequent centuries – Grecian, Syrian, Maccabean and Roman.
The Temple rebuilt by Herod the Idumean (the governor of Judaea by edict of the Roman Senate). This was the Temple that Christ drove out the money changers from. It was destroyed in the campaign of the Roman general Titus in 70 AD.
OBADIAH Obadyah
Means 'servant of God'.
Obadiah's message was primarily of destruction and doom for Edom, the Edomite Jews, the descendants of Esau.
Some say written around 853-841 BC. Others say 605-586 BC.
Elijah and Obadiah meet (1Kings 18:3-16)
Nothing is known of the personal history of this prophet. Obadiah is next to Amos and continues and amplifies a passage in the last chapter of that prophet.
Here in Obadiah's short book, we learn more of the tools of Satan, under the generic term 'Edom'.
Genesis tells us that 'Edom is Esau'. Esau married two Hittite women who were of the mongrelized Canaanite stock. Incestuous descendants of Canaan and satanic descendants of Cain. He became the 'father of the Edomites'. The Jews are Canaanites and Edomites.
Some centuries after the return of the remnants of the tribes of Jacob from captivity, they received a substantial infusion of non-Israelitish peoples. Chief among these were the Edomites (Jews). Later, they seized religious power by the time of Yahshua Christ's birth. Herod was an Edomite and ordered the slaughter of all children under 2 years of age, in an attempt to slay the Christ-child. It was Herod II that Yahshua called 'that fox' who ordered the execution of John the Baptist, and that mocked Christ before returning Him to Pilate prior to the crucifixion.
Psalm 137, which shows the context of the verse concerning Edom. The Psalm was written as a lament following the final deportations of the people of Jerusalem to Babylon. It is a reminder to Yahweh to remember what Edom did while the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem.
ZECHARIAH Zekaryah
Means 'God has remembered'
Prophet to Judah approximately 520BC
A priest, son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo, who, along with Haggai, directed the rebuilding of the temple in the days of Zerubbabel.
Contemporary of Haggai. Message was about last things, end times.
Prophesied the doom of the Canaanites (14:21).
Flying Scroll- (biblicalhorizons.com)
And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I answered, "I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits" (Zechariah 5:2).
Immediately following his vision of the outpouring of the Spirit upon the restoration community (4:1-14), Zechariah saw a flying scroll. The interpreting angel told him that the scroll was going throughout the land to purge thieves and perjurers (5:3-4). The sequence is significant: When the Spirit is poured out, not only blessings but curses intensify. A Spirit-filled church is not only one where faith, hope, and love reign, but also one in which "some are sick, and some are fallen asleep." (This same sequence is repeated in Zechariah 12:10-13:6: The Spirit is poured out, and the unclean spirits of false prophets are purged.)
While the overall meaning of the vision of the flying scroll is evident from the angel’s interpretation, Zechariah provides additional details that invite further reflection. First, the most unusual thing about the scroll is that it is in midair. This position immediately suggests several things. The scroll is between heaven and earth, indicating that the curses written on it are not of the earth, earthy. Yahweh Himself, not a human authority, will administer them. This is important for the vision, since the criminals the scroll seeks out – those who steal and then swear falsely that they are innocent – are such as commonly escape detection and punishment by human authorities.
Further, the scroll is mobile, not stationary. This too is important to the vision, since the angel says that the scroll seeks out thieves and perjurors in order to bring curses on them. Like the Hound of Heaven, the curses of the covenant seek out and overtake their object (cf. Zech 1:6). When the Spirit comes upon the church, the wicked find no place to hide. Finally, the scroll’s mobility, and its position between heaven and earth, suggest a relation to the cloud-chariot on which the Lord rides as He comes in judgment. This possibility will become more plausible as we proceed.
A flying scroll is unusual enough, but this scroll is flying to and fro unrolled, or at least partly so. This is evident from the facts that Zechariah can estimate its dimensions (5:2) and that he can see writing on both sides (5:3). Scrolls normally roll into a tube as soon as you let go of the ends; evidently, Someone has unrolled this scroll and is holding it open as it flies over the land. Breaking a scroll’s seals and unrolling it signify administering the things written in the scroll; as the Lamb unseals and unrolls the scroll, the words of the book become incarnate in history (Rev. 5:1ff.). The fact that the flying scroll is unrolled without human agency reinforces the message that the Lord Himself is unleashing the curses of the covenant.
One of the long-standing puzzles of this vision is the size and shape of the scroll. Zechariah says that the scroll is 20 cubits long and 10 cubits wide (30 feet by 15 feet). Ancient scrolls were sometimes as long as 30 feet, but they were usually only about a foot wide. What Zechariah saw looked less like a normal scroll than a flying billboard. Its monstrous size is undoubtedly part of the point: The curses of the covenant were publicly broadcast. No one could claim ignorance.
Most commentators agree that the specific dimensions are also significant. These dimensions occur several times in the Old Testament. According to 1 Kings 6:3, the porch of Solomon’s temple was 20 by 10 cubits. It has been suggested that this porch was the place where the priest or the king read the covenant law to the people, thus establishing an association with the administration of covenant curses that Zechariah exploits. While this is possible, there is no conclusive evidence that the law was in fact read from this porch.
Another possibility is that the scroll replicates the dimensions of the holy place of the tabernacle. (These dimensions are nowhere given explicitly, but must be inferred from the size and number of the wall boards and the size of the Most Holy Place; cf. James Strong, The Tabernacle of Israel [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1987], pp. 28-38). It has been suggested that the curses on the scroll are going into effect now that the temple and priesthood are being restored. This interpretation fits well with the other visions of Zechariah, which focus on the establishment of the temple and restoring the priests’ access to the holy place.
More persuasive than either of these suggestions, in my judgment, is the proposal of Carol L. and Eric M. Meyers (Haggai, Zechariah 1-8 [The Anchor Bible; New York: Doubleday, 1987], p. 291), who point out that the two giant olive-wood cherubim of Solomon’s temple together form a 10 by 20 cubit area (each cherub was 10 by 10 cubits, 1 Ki. 6:23-28). The wings of these cherubim overshadowed the ark, which contained the tablets of the law, and they were thus associated with the administration of covenant sanctions. Meyers and Meyers write, "If the cherubim represent divine presence and transport . . . in association with God’s word on tablets, a twenty-by-ten flying scroll . . . would be a postexilic equivalent. The scroll itself has replaced the ark and its tablets, which have disappeared from Israel, as the source of God’s word; and its twenty-by-ten airborne size conjures up the winged guardians of the Mosaic tablets."
The most obvious advantage of this interpretation is that cherubim fly, like the scroll (but unlike Solomon’s porch or the holy place). Moreover, cherubim formed the Lord’s glory cloud-chariot, the cloud that the Lord rides when He appears to judge the earth. Zechariah’s flying scroll is the cherub-filled cloud, symbolically manifested as a text that enumerates the punishments Yahweh will carry out when He comes on clouds of glory.
Zechariah, like Haggai, was a prophet to those of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi, who, by permission of the Persian Emperor, returned to Jerusalem in order to rebuild the Temple.
Zechariah was a priest. He was a true patriot, pointing out that it is only righteousness that exalts a nation, and that fasting is no substitute for truth and justice.
Zechariah's death is attested to by Yahshua Christ. (Matt 23:33-35)
The book of Zechariah can be divided into three parts:
A series of visions – chapters 1-6
Two years later, plain words in answer to messengers – chapters 7-8
Prophecies of details of the First and Second Advents of Christ – chapters 9-14
Visions are of such symbols as a rider, 4 horns, 4 carpenters, a measuring line, a golden lampstand, a flying roll, an ephah, 4 chariots with horses. Like Christ's parables, they have hidden meaning.
For example, the vision of the 4 carpenters (literally 'workers') are those who 'diminish' – 'fray' or file down – the 'horns' (or Kings). In Bible numerology '4' appears to be concerned with things of this earth, and moreover things in connection with times of dissolution or judgment. Zechariah lived in such times. The power of Assyria which had conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel had been crushed by Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, the power which later had conquered, in it's turn, the southern Kingdom of Judah. Darius the Mede was the reigning monarch when Zechariah's countrymen returned to Jerusalem. Was not Zechariah, therefore, in revealing this vision of the 4 carpenters, indicating to Darius that his power, too, would be 'frayed' (as it was by Alexander the Great) and was not this also a long term vision of the time when representative government would overthrow monarchies, not necessarily by war but by attrition?
Zechariah was given prophetic vision for the ages far in the future is evident from striking passages in the latter part of his book, chapters 9-14.
The First Advent of Christ:
His triumphant entry into Jerusalem. (Zech 9:9)
The price of Judas' betrayal, which became the purchase price of the potter's field. (Zech 11:12-13 Matt 21:1-10)
The parable of Beauty and Bands. (Zech 11:7-14)
'Bands' represents 'the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.' It is thought that 'the breaking of the Bands' signified 'the rejection of Christ by official Judah', and the acceptance of Him by the Galileans (of the northern province of Israel). All the disciples except Judas were Galileans of the tribe of Benjamin, as was Paul. Christ told the Jews 'The Kingdom of Yahweh shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof.' It was Israel – in it's appointed place in the 'isles' – who received the Kingdom. Ezekiel, using the parable of the 'two sticks' prophesied the ultimate reunion of true Judah and national Israel. Christ reconciled both houses of Israel and Judah under the new covenant. This parable also concerns the regathering of Israel's tribes under one head. America fulfilled this prophecy.
The 'seven times' punishment and divorce which started in 745 BC with the Assyrian invasion takes us 2520 years to 1776 AD, the birth of America, one 'white' nation of true Israel under God.
The Jews are NOT children of Israel. They are children of Cain and of Esau.
The Second Advent of Christ:
Zechariah also foretells Christ's return with all the saints. The enemies of Christ shall be destroyed. The Kingdom of God will cover the earth with Yahshua as King.
MALACHI Mal'akiy
Meaning 'My messenger'.
Malachi is H4401 and from H4397 mal'ak, meaning despatch as a messenger, a representative.
Prophet of Inter-Testamental period during the return to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity.
Time of the 2nd Temple. During Persian period (II Temple age).
Yahweh’s messenger of the covenant.
Prophesied the coming of one who would prepare the way for the coming Messiah in the spirit of Elijah and that was about John the Baptist, who fulfilled the prophecy.
Like Haggai and Zechariah, Malachi was a prophet – the last – to the people who came back to Jerusalem, first under Ezra and Zerubbabel and, later, Nehemiah.
Malachi began with a message for his own time:
Rebukes to the people, for slackness and carelessness in Yahweh's worship.
Rebukes to the priests, for ignorance and injustice.
Malachi also prophesied the First Advent and concerning the messenger selected to prepare the way before Him (Christ).
Malachi 3:3 And he (John) shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he (John) shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto Yahweh an offering in righteousness.
John was sent to cleanse the Levitical priesthood in order that they may offer Christ in righteousness.
Baptism of water was by John for the Levitical priesthood and for Christ. Water baptism as it is used today is a 'doctrine of men'. No man or water can cleanse you or come between you and Christ. John was the last Levitical priest and Christ was the last sacrifice. When Christ died, the priesthood expired and water baptism ended. Christ is now our High Priest. The only way to be baptized now is by being immersed in the knowledge and understanding of the Word.
Malachi also prophesied the Second Advent.
Malachi opens with the Israelites being concerned with the Edomites.
Malachi closes with the concerns of the Israelites of their own brethren.
SAMUEL Shemu'el Last of the Judges, First of the Prophets
Means 'His name is El'.
Son of Elkanah.
Samuel anointed Israel's first two kings, Saul and David, and communicated Yahweh's will for these kings.
GAD
Means 'troop'
A prophet during the time of David; appears to have joined David when in the hold; reappears in connection with the punishment for taking a census; also assisted in the arrangements for the musical service of the “house of God”
Doeg the Edomite Jew slays Ahimelech the priest and 84 other priests.
1Samuel 22:5 And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.
Septuagint: 24:1 And Yahweh caused His anger to burn forth again in Israel, and Satan stirred up David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Judah.
Apparently Satan (the Adversary), or one of his children persuaded David to number Israel.
2Samuel 24:10 And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto Yahweh, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech Thee, O Yahweh, take away the iniquity of Thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
24:11 For when David was up in the morning, the word of Yahweh came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
24:12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith Yahweh, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 1 Chronicles 21:9-13
24:13 So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of Yahweh; for His mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
24:18 And Gad came that day to David, and said unto him, Go up, rear an altar unto Yahweh in the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.
24:19 And David, according to the saying of Gad, went up as Yahweh commanded.
1Chronicles 29:29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
NATHAN
Means 'giver'
The eminent prophet in the time of David and Solomon.
2Samuel 7:1 And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and Yahwew had given him rest round about from all his enemies;
7:2+ That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
Chapter 12 Nathan spoke a parable to David that was about David.
Nathan is also in: 1 Kings 1:8,10-11,22-24,32,34,38,44-45 and 1Chronicles 17:1,2-3,15,29; 2Chr 9:29; 29:25. Psalm 51.
AHIJAH
Means 'brother of Yahweh'
1Kings 11:29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
11:30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
11:32+ (But he-Solomon- shall have one tribe for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)
1Kings 14:1 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
14:2+ And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.
ELIJAH Eliyah/Eliyahu
Means 'my God is Yahweh'
The great prophet of the reign of Ahab
1 Kings Chapters 17-19,21
Ahab, Jezebel kill Naboth, use false witnesses, and claim vineyard.
1Kings 21:17 And the word of Yahweh came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying,
21:18+ Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria: behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, whither he is gone down to possess it.
2 Kings 1:3-2:18 Elijah ascends
2 Chronicles 21:12-15
ELISHA Eliysha
Means 'God is salvation'
The great prophet who succeeded Elijah
1Kings 19:16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
The prophet Elisha was also a son of Issachar. Elisha lived as a rich farmer where the Jordan met the brook of Beth-Shean. During his ministry he was befriended by a rich farmer and his God-fearing wife in the Valley of Shunem. When Elisha offered a favor, the Shunemite declared that he dwelled contented among his own people. Later, the man's only son was reaping and died of heat prostration. The Shunemite sought out the prophet who raised the boy from the dead. (nordiskisrael.dk)
Elisha leaves everything and follows Elijah
1Kings 19:19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.
19:20 And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee?
19:21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.
Chapter 2-9 Elisha begins ministry, widows pot of oil, Shunammite's son, cure of Naaman, Syrians made blind, Famine in Samaria, Prophecy of Elisha.
2Kings 13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
13:15 And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows. And he took unto him bow and arrows.
13:16 And he said to the king of Israel, Put thine hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it: and Elisha put his hands upon the king's hands.
13:17 And he said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot. And he said, The arrow of Yahweh's deliverance, and the arrow of deliverance from Syria: for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them.
13:18 And he said, Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed.
13:19 And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
13:20 And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year.
13:21 And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
JEHU
Means 'Yahweh is He'
Son of Hanani and an Israelite prophet in the time of Baasha and Jehoshaphat
1Kings 16:7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of Yahweh against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of Yahweh, in provoking Him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.
16:12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of Yahweh, which He spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,
ODED
Means 'restorer'
A prophet in the days of king Asa of Judah
(son Azariah = 'Yahweh has helped') *Unclear which one is the subject*
2Chronicles 15:1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded:
15:2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; Yahweh is with you, while ye be with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; but if ye forsake Him, He will forsake you.
15:3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.
15:4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto Yahweh God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found of them.
15:5 And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.
15:6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.
15:7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.
15:8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of Yahweh, that was before the porch of Yahweh.
2Chronicles 28:9 But a prophet of Yahweh was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because Yahweh God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, He hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven.
28:10 And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against Yahweh your God?
28:11 Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of Yahweh is upon you.
Other prophets to consider.
ABRAHAM
Means 'father of a multitude'
Friend of God and great grandfather of the nation of Israel via God’s elective covenant.
When Abimelech nearly took Abraham’s wife for himself, Yahweh warned him that this woman is the wife of a prophet (Gen 20:3-4) but knew it was not Abimelech’s fault (Gen 20:6) but God still told him “return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours” (Gen 20:7).
ANNA
Means 'grace' or 'favored'
A prophetess in Jerusalem at the time of the Lord’s presentation in the Temple. She was of the tribe of Asher.
Luke informs us that “there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher” (Luke 2:36) and she had been “waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:38b) and like Simeon (Luke 2:34-35) saw the redemption come in the Redeemer.
DAVID
Means 'beloved'
Youngest son of Jesse and second king of Israel
If you only read Psalm twenty-one, twenty-two, and twenty-three, you’ll be convinced that David was a prophet which is part of the reason he ends up in the “Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11:32 where Paul writes, “And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets.”
DEBORAH
Means 'bee' (in the sense of orderly motion); the bee (from its systematic instincts)
A prophetess who judged Israel.
During the times of the Judges, when once again Israel cried out for deliverance, “Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time” and this courageous woman of God led Israel to victory by prophesying to and encouraging Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which Yahweh has given Sisera into your hand. Does not Yahweh go out before you” (Judges 4:14) and “not a man was left” (Judges 4:16).
ENOCH
Means 'dedicated' or 'initiated' (to train)
Son of Jared and father of Methuselah whom God took home to heaven without dying.
Most people might not be aware that Enoch, who was said to have walked with God, (Gen 5:24), was also a prophet as Jude writes “Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, Yahweh is coming with thousands upon thousands of His holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against Him” (Jude 1:14-15) apparently from “First Book of Enoch.”
HULDAH
Means 'weasel'.
Prophetess in the time of Josiah.
Huldah was also a prophetess of God and the king, the priest, and other important men went to her to inquire of God.
2Kings 22:14 So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asahiah, went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college;) and they communed with her. 2Ch 34:22
JOHN the Baptist
Means 'Yahweh is a gracious giver'
John the Baptist was the son of Zacharias and Elisabeth, the forerunner of Christ. By order of Herod Antipas he was cast into prison and afterwards beheaded.
Who was the last prophet from the Old Testament? Was it Malachi? What is Habakkuk? No, the last Old Testament prophet was John the Baptist who came in the spirit of Elijah (Luke 1:16) and was the prophet where the Old Testament overlapped and ran into the New Testament.
MIRIAM
Means 'rebellion'
Miriam was the sister of Aaron but she was also a prophetess (Ex 15:20) and also a songwriter too (Ex 15:20) and even though she and Aaron spoke against Moses, even a prophetess is not above sin.
MOSES
Means 'drawn'
The prophet and lawgiver, leader of the exodus
Moses was a prophet and not just the religious leader of Israel but also the Lawgiver. Moses prophesied of the coming One Who “God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Duet 18:15) and whoever rejects Him, rejects God (Duet 18:18-20).
SIMEON
Means 'harkening'
The one who took the infant Jesus in his arms in the temple.
Luke 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen Yahweh's Christ (Yahweh's Anointed).
Simeon too was a prophet for he prophesied “and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed”(Luke 2:34-35).
Some say that Jacob was a prophet.
JACOB
Means 'heel holder' or 'supplanter'
Son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and father of the 12 patriarchs of the tribes of Israel
Gen 28:11-16
NAMELESS PROPHETS
MANY
1Kings 18:4 For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of Yahweh, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.)
18:13 Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Yahweh, how I hid an hundred men of Yahweh's prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water?
1 Kings 13:11 (12-31+) Prophet who disobeyed Yahweh and ate with the old prophet.
